LIVE VIDEO — Congress investigates the spending practices of the General Services Administration (GSA) following a $823,000 conference at a Las Vegas resort.
By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com
At a congressional oversight hearing Tuesday, Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., said he was prepared to systematically pull apart the General Services Administration to the point where "we will make it a question to the American public whether the GSA is needed at all."
“I'm here to tell you the buck stops here,” said Denham, who heads the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
"Where crimes have been committed, people will go to jail," Denham said.
The hearing focused on the GSA's wasteful spending of taxpayer money in the wake of recent revelations of lavish spending for a Las Vegas conference in 2010 that cost $823,000. It was the second day of hearings in the matter.
Ex-GSA head apologizes for $823,000 Las Vegas spending spree
Rep. John L. Mica, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that while the GSA's wasteful spending in Las Vegas is "appalling," it is only the tip of the iceberg.
The Republican congressman from Florida added that he and Denham have been discussing whether the GSA's culture of squandering can be purged or whether the agency -- "our government's landlord" -- should be replaced.
In his opening statement, Bob Peck, former head of the agency's public building department, said the Las Vegas conference was an "aberration," and most conferences he attended were not lavish.
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